Our Future, Our North: Good growth - from strategy to your street Tom Riordan, Jessica Bowles, Charlie Jeffery, Praful Nargund, Toby Reid, Richard Webb and James Coe (chair)

Tom Riordan CBE joined HM Treasury (HMT) in October 2025 as the Government’s Northern Growth Envoy. Since then, he has overseen the announcement of the most significant transformation to travel in the North for a generation through Northern Powerhouse Rail. Prior to this appointment, Tom served as Second Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), leading work on the 10 Year Health Plan and adult social care, among other government priorities. He was previously Chief Executive of Leeds City Council for 14 years, during which time he oversaw major regeneration of the city centre with 25,000 new homes built, and achieved outstanding rated children’s services, and a pioneering ‘Home First’ Adult Social Care programme. Tom undertook a secondment to the national response to Covid in 2020, and, earlier in his career, served as Chief Executive of Yorkshire Forward from 2005 to 2010, following international environmental work in the Department for Environment in the 1990s.

Jessica Bowles is Strategic Partnerships and Impact Director at Bruntwood. Jessica’s career has been spent across public and private sectors supporting the growth of UK cities, encouraging investment and rebalancing the relationship between government and the regional cities. For the last ten years she has been a member of Bruntwood’s Group Board where her focus is how the business can align its commercial expertise behind the priorities of our cities and towns and generate lasting economic and social benefits. Among external roles, Jessica is Vice-Chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, a member of the Regeneration Brainery Advisory Board and a founding trustee of Manchester Baroque.

James Coe is a Senior Partner at Countercultural Partnership LLP. An expert in public policy and higher education, James is an experienced practitioner in business and strategy development who is interested in working with organisations who believe their work makes their places better. He is the former Head of Sustainability, Policy, and Civic Engagement, at the University of Liverpool. James specialises in developing civic projects through stakeholder engagement, policy development, and place-based analyses. His work has included working with regional authorities on their sustainability and research strategies, engagement with local authorities on their arts and cultural offer, advising higher education bodies on policy issues, and as a writer for a number of publications including Wonkhe where he is their current Associate Editor for Research and Innovation.

Professor Charlie Jeffery is Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of York. He has a deep-rooted interest in how university research and education can serve the general benefit of society, or public good.  At York, he has worked to bring together the University with local authorities, businesses, other universities and colleges to promote inclusive economic development, and to open up access to university study and economic opportunity to people from disadvantaged backgrounds - both in the UK and internationally. Charlie is Chair of the N8 Research Partnership (a collaboration of the eight most research intensive universities in the North of England), a member of the Partnership Board of key organisations in the City of York, the York Central Steering Board, and the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.

Praful Nargund is the Founder and Director of the Good Growth Foundation, a think tank that campaigns for popular economic policies to grow the economy while reducing inequality. Until 2023, he was the CEO of Create Fertility, which he built with the mission to tackle inequalities in fertility treatment. Praful is also a co-founder of Social Impact Enterprises, which aims to drive sustainable growth. He has won innovation and business awards from The Telegraph, The Spectator and London Business School. Praful ran as The Labour Party’s parliamentary candidate in Islington North during the 2024 General Election and shaped education policy as part of Labour’s Council of Skills Advisors.

Toby Reid is Executive Director of the Pioneer Group, Europe’s leading vertically integrated platform curating innovation-focused ecosystems that increase the chance of business success. 

Richard Webb is the Chief Executive for City of York Council. Previously he was corporate director for health and adult services at North Yorkshire Council. Prior to that he has been a director in Sheffield and Telford and Wrekin, with lead responsibility for housing, culture, leisure, community development and community safety and cohesion, as well as social care and health. Earlier in his career he worked in local government and the NHS in Stockton on Tees, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne and North Tyneside. He is passionate about York as a city where history meets the future: building our economy around natural strengths in culture and creative industries, rail and food and bio-tech. As one of the largest brownfield developments in Europe, York Central gives the opportunity to create a new central business district, as well as building thousands of new homes (including more affordable homes) and creating a linear park, alongside the City’s medieval heart; and our children’s services are pioneering public service reform as work hard to ensure more young people have the best start in life.